The Future of Beauty: What FMCG R&D Leaders Can Learn from the Industry’s Sharpest Minds

The British Beauty Council’s “Future of Beauty” event this week was one of the most intelligently curated industry gatherings we’ve seen in quite a long time. Every panel was deliberate, with a mix of business leaders, founders, scientists and creatives who together told a story of an economically valuable industry, evolving faster than ever. For R&D leaders in FMCG, who don’t often get the luxury of stepping outside the business, there were some powerful takeaways on how consumer relevance, science, and creativity can work better together.

1. Enable Experiments in a Growing Market

A new Oxford Economics study for the British Beauty Council puts the UK beauty industry’s value at over £30 billion, supporting thousands of jobs and product exports. Across the day, speakers shared how increasing consumer sophistication is reshaping innovation. The rise of “high–low beauty” where shoppers blend premium and cost-effective products reflects a new realism due to current market dynamics. Consumers are buying selectively, often in bite-sized formats to de-risk their spend, while also expecting longer-lasting benefits, with a diverse range of engaging IRL pop-up events and experiences.

R&D recommendation 1:

Ensure new product developments are considerate of wider cost of living needs, experiment with bite-size products or a range of different sizes (from small to large) and develop engaging real-life demos, so that consumers can try products more easily before committing to large cash-outlays from the start.

2. The Hybrid Era: Longevity, Healthspan and Hands-On Science

The “Predicting Tomorrow’s Beauty” panel, featuring leaders from Boots, Ruuby, ClearPay and Sculpted by Aimee, offered a sharp view of hybridisation, from skin care with SPF to beauty devices that promise both care and performance, showing the future is emerging with fewer discrete categories, and more benefit ecosystems. Discussions from Aimee Connolly getting hands-on in her factory, checking formulations with “Spanx-like cushioning” textures, showed us that attention to detail pays off via incredibly successful business results. Oriole from Elemis discussed the importance of aroma and texture on all Elemis products reminding us all that away from the TikToks and Instagram reels, the real test is when the consumer uses the product and if they see and feel a real difference.

R&D recommendation 2:

Consider adjacent benefits (e.g. SPF + cosmetics, or hairspray + fragrance) to expand your core category benefits and drive useful distinctivity. Also ensure the emerging sensory experience is designed to communicate these combined benefits to the end user through as many of the 5 senses as possible.

3. Skin Regeneration and the New “Wellness-Science” Eco-System

The “Skin Regeneration” panel, hosted by Alice Hart-Davis, was a fascinating look at how heritage science and new discovery products are co-existing. Brands like Medik8 are combining trusted CSA ingredients with credible emerging science in next-generation actives, and experts also spoke about how consumers increasingly view skin health as part of a whole-body ecosystem, linking skincare to sleep, hydration, nutrition and mental health. The market for devices and professional treatments that work synergistically with home care is expanding fast, likened by Emily Buckwell to “going to the gym daily and also having a personal trainer once a week or once a month.”

R&D recommendation 3:

Consider how your innovation complements the wider consumer “eco-system”, based on how routines, ingredients and devices interact in the real world. Ensure you communicate how specific eco-systems fit together with very simple analogies to help shoppers understand the role of each product more easily.

4. Sport, Beauty and the Power of Representation

One of the day’s most inspiring sessions was “Unlocking the Sport Opportunity”, featuring Elemis, Chelsea FC and incredible Olympian Dina Asher-Smith. They explored how the link between sport and beauty is evolving from appearance to empowerment, and Dina’s comments captured it perfectly: “Sport and beauty are at their best when they represent the full diversity of everyone involved.”

R&D recommendation 4:

Inclusivity is not just a communication strategy; it must be a core part of the R&D product brief. Representation should be built into formulation, claims and testing, ensuring that products perform for every skin tone, texture and culture.

5. Bio-Beauty, Biotech and Collaboration Over Competition

The final session, “Unlocking the Power of Bio Beauty and Biotech”, led by Emma Kohring, showed how science and sustainability are coming together in genuinely exciting ways. Panellists from Neal’s Yard, REOME, The Unseen, Shellworks and Ruka spoke about believability, collaboration and material innovation. Certifications like the Soil Association are cutting through the noise, helping consumers trust complex science. Collaboration between “competitors” is starting to reduce cost of goods more broadly, raising the innovation baseline for everyone. And packaging innovation is moving beyond plastic, glass and aluminium to compostable materials that still deliver the tactile user experience consumers expect.

R&D recommendation 5:

Ruka’s Tendai Mayo summed it up beautifully, highlighting three simple consumer needs to be addressed: a.) products must be accessible, not elitist, b.) science must be simple and honest with stories that are evidence-backed and emotionally real, and c.) we must collaborate together with our competitors and retailers to help make sustainable beauty more accessible to all.

A Final Reflection

Events like this remind us why time outside the lab and the corporate office really matters. The future of beauty isn’t only about new ingredients or devices. It’s about the systems that connect science, storytelling and user experience in smarter, more economical and inclusive ways.

To the British Beauty Council team, and to the brilliant panellists and organisers who made the day so rich with ideas, an enormous thank you. You gave us a view of the future that feels super grounded, hopeful and deeply relevant to every R&D leader building what comes next. And a personal shout-out to Sarah and Anke, my new friends from the audience, always the best part of days like these!